


The Bronze Age

by RescueWombat



Category: Shaman King (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Gen, Gratuitous dinosaurs, Magna's dignity is disappearing more rapidly than his sanity, The story of one man too tired for this shit, also the story of that one man adopting a bunch of kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-26 13:08:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20930741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RescueWombat/pseuds/RescueWombat
Summary: In every story, there is a hero. A great savior who saves the world from certain doom, vanquishing the evil that looms in the darkness.This, however, is not the story of that savior. This is the story of an honest man, a family's duty, and five hundred years of payback coming to a head.





	The Bronze Age

**Louisiana backwoods, 1997**

“John, welcome child. Sit, eat, we have much to speak of.” The frail old man sitting at the small table said, motioning for his grandson to sit.

“Of course, granddad. How have you been keeping recently? I’ve been on the road so much I haven’t had a chance to stop by at all.” The younger man said, sitting across from his grandfather.

“I have been well. Not as well as I could be, but well enough. What tribe do we belong to, John?”

“This old question again? We’re Creek, granddad. Or have I gotten it wrong for the millionth time?” John said, prodding at the food in front of him. Looked like rabbit, old man must have been hunting.

“Indeed you have, child. Tell me, how are Luella and your children?”

“Doing just fine. Luella’s been playing organ at the church and giving piano lessons to some local kids, Dennis is entering his last year of college, Junior’s doing well in school, and Randall...well, he’s doing like he always has.” John said, trailing off as he cut away some of the meat and nibbled at it. Kind of gamey...

“Raising hell?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” John said, skewering a piece of meat and putting it into his mouth. Yep, definitely rabbit.

“It’s payback for all the hell you raised, saying you could see ghosts and talk to them...John, I need to speak seriously to you now.” The old man said, expression grim.

“What is it, grandfather?”

“I need you to answer some questions as truthfully as you can. Do you love your wife and children?”

“What? Granddad, what kind of question is that?”

“Answer the question, John. Do you love your wife and children?”

“Well...of course I do. That goes without question.”

“So you’d do anything to protect them, right?”

“Of course. Granddad, I’m not liking the way these questions are heading.”

“Now then, having answered that. Do you still see spirits?” The wizened old man said, features hardened.

“...yes. I still see them every day. Other drivers who wrecked on the side of the road, men and women murdered for their valuables in truck stop parking lots, folks who just passed and never got to fulfill their dreams. I see them all the time and it kills me to pretend they aren’t there.” John whispered, the heels of his palms grinding at his forehead.

“...good. If you couldn’t see them, then that means you’d become a bad person. Follow me, child.” Grandfather said, standing to his full height and leading his grandson out to the back of the land surrounding the remote cabin they were meeting in.

“Do you still have a thing for paleontology, John?”

“I’ve more than a passing interest, yes.”

“Good. Then these are a perfect match. Allow me to introduce to you, my grandson, your new partners.”

Standing there, like titans of a bygone era, were dinosaurs.

One, with a neck as long as three football fields, another with wings as wide as a freight trailer is long, another with a crown of solid bone atop its head, and another with a wide frill and a trio of horns. The last was different, swimming idly in the air with four wide flippers, a crocodilian head snapping at nothing.

“Let me tell you, John Jacklaw, of the story of a tribe called the Patch, and the right answer to the question of what tribe we belong to.”

..-. .. ...- . / .... ..- -. -.. .-. . -.. / -.-- . .- .-. ... / --- ..-. / ..- -. ..-. .. -. .. ... .... . -.. / -... ..- ... .. -. . ... ...

“You...no, you can’t be joking about this. It’s too planned out.” John said, falling onto his back from where he’d been sitting cross legged on the ground.

“Truth is stranger than fiction, child. Five hundred years ago our bloodline and two others were exiled from the Patch for trying to kill Hao Asakura, who had taken the form of one of our blood. Now, five hundred years later he has returned, and I hope you will finish what our ancestors started.”

“...I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

“It was either you or Randall.”

“Damn it. Fine, when does this Shaman Fight start?”

“In two years, the preliminaries will begin. Let Melvin know you’re taking a leave of absence from the company. I’ll be training you to use your new partners in the first year and a half. I’ll let you have the last six months before we leave to spend with your family.”

“What about Luella though? What about the kids?” John said, shooting upright.

“Let them know, tell them the whole story if you have to. The more they know, the safer they are.”

“...how long do I have before we start?”

“Give or take a month. I don’t want you distracted, you hear me?”

“I hear you granddad. See you in a month or so.” John said, pulling himself to his feet and walking off toward the beat up pickup sitting in the driveway of the cabin.

..-. .. ...- . / .... ..- -. -.. .-. . -.. / -.-- . .- .-. ... / --- ..-. / ..- -. ..-. .. -. .. ... .... . -.. / -... ..- ... .. -. . ... …

“So that’s the story. I’m either going to save the world, or die trying.” John sighed, looking over his assembled family.

Luella sits shaken, hair fisted in her coal black curls as she processed it all. Junior and Dennis look at each other uncomfortably, silently wondering if their father had gone off the deep end. Silence reigned for only a moment before the youngest in the room opened his mouth.

“I want to help.” Randall said, standing up from his place on the arm of the couch.

“You can’t just leave us like this! Me and ma and Denny and JJ, we barely get to see you as it is and now you want to just leave us behind and, and maybe never come back? What the hell is that?” The teenager yelled, stomping toward his father, face growing red and tears building at the corners of his eyes.

“Son, I’m doing it for your sake. You know I am. If I die keeping you all alive, then that’s worth it in my eyes.” John said, taking his youngest by the shoulders and pulling him close.

“Remember son. I’m doing this because I love you, okay?”

“Yeah...okay.” Randall said, tears flowing freely as he rested his head against his father’s shoulder.

..-. .. ...- . / .... ..- -. -.. .-. . -.. / -.-- . .- .-. ... / --- ..-. / ..- -. ..-. .. -. .. ... .... . -.. / -... ..- ... .. -. . ... …

**Vermont backwoods**

“Yeah, it’s almost time, ain’t it?” A tall wiry man said, swinging his legs idly from where he sat on the branch of a tree.

_ “Nearly time, time for a feast!” _ The smoky figure next to him rasped, a wheezing laugh echoing from its fanged maw.

“Yeah, you’re all excited ain’t you? You haven’t ate good since the war.” The man said, running his hand across the top of his bald head.

**[Conway Freeman]**

**Spirit Partner: Obsidian Jaws**

_ “Hungry! Hungry! Want flesh!” _

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**Standing Rock Reservation, South Dakota**

“I figure we’ll be hearing from the old timer before long, huh partner?” The man standing in front of the cobweb-covered mirror said, his reflection smirking back at him as it stood stock still.

_ “Five hundred years all leading up to now. Are you excited, Martin?” _ His reflection asked, cobwebs falling away around the mirror and shaping themselves into an eight-legged form, eight eyes blinking in sync as the spirit settled itself on the wall.

“Ecstatic, my friend. Now let’s hurry ourselves along, that crowd won’t wow itself. Or maybe it will, the world is full of surprises after all.” The man said, the spirit climbing off from the wall and onto his shoulders, one long slender leg flicking the lightswitch off as they stepped out of the room.

**[Martin Bluejay]**

**Spirit Partner: Iktomi**

..-. .. ...- . / .... ..- -. -.. .-. . -.. / -.-- . .- .-. ... / --- ..-. / ..- -. ..-. .. -. .. ... .... . -.. / -... ..- ... .. -. . ... …

**Tokyo, Japan, 1999**

“So, I reckon you’re one of the Patch?” John said, a wry smile crossing his face as he locked eyes with the cloaked man across from him.

“Correct. My name is Magna, and I’ll be the one determining if you enter the Shaman Fight.” The man said, his cruel grin a twisted reflection of his opponent’s smile.

“And just how are you going to determine that?” John said, pulling himself up off the stoop he was seated on. The street was empty, street lights flickering in the darkness of the witching hour.

“Simple. All you have to do...is land a single hit on me.” Magna said, grin stretching even further.

“Well. You certainly make it simple, don’t you?” John said, stamping out his cigarette on the bottom of his boot.

“We try our best. Land a hit on me, and you’ll get this. A genuine handcrafted Patch Oracle Pager. Think of it as your key to the Shaman Fight.” Magna said, flashing a piece of technology before it disappeared back into his cloak.

“Alright then. Hope you’re ready, pal.” John laughed before lurching forward, a blur of movement as he threw himself headfirst at his opponent.

Only to crash into the guard rail separating the road from the sidewalk, the metal wrapping around his cranium.

“Good attempt! But you’re going to have to try harder than that.” The officiant laughed from his place high in the air, a pair of great wings and a set of talons replacing his arms and legs.

“My Magnescope allows me the power of flight, so I’m quite sorry for your bad luck.”

“Bad luck, huh? Nah, the way I see it, I just get to show off a bit more.” John said, adjusting the ballcap atop his head as the crown of bone that once surrounded it faded away.

As he spoke, a pair of great reptilian wings folded out from his back, and with one, two, three flaps he was off into the air, flannel jacket fluttering in the breeze.

“Oho? Your spirit partner must be very versatile indeed to allow such destructive force  _ and _ flight.” Magna said, his own wings sending him careening talons-first toward John.

On a collision course, John willed his mana outward, his crown of bone forming once more as Magna’s talon seized him by the face, intent on driving him into the ground.

From beneath the claws of the owl spirit, John could only laugh.

“Good attempt.” He spat, as a pillar of shimmering mana swung out from his right arm and crashed into Magna’s head.

Tumbling through the air, Magna felt his head ring as he collided with the side of a building. Blinking through the double vision, he could barely believe his eyes as he looked at the man he had been sent to test.

He was like a medieval knight made modern, wielding a three-horned shield in one hand and a long lance-like weapon in the other, both made of the same shimmering, scale-like, mana as the wings that held him aloft and the crown of bones that surrounded his head.

“So, what do you think?” John said, voice perfectly clear despite the fanged mask that covered his face.

“You...pass.” Magna said, slipping into unconsciousness as he fell from the slight crater his impact had made.

**[John Jacklaw]**

**Spirit Partners: Bronze Lance, Bronze Shield, Bronze Mantle, Bronze Helmet, and Bronze Fang**

“Uh, you okay there bud? Magna? You okay?”

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**Patch Village**

“So they’re finally moving. After five hundred years, those renegade families are showing themselves.” Goldva muttered, stroking her chin as she rewound the recording.

“And of course the damn fool knocked out his officiant.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! If you're reading this, thank you so very much for taking a look! This story sort of started out as something I couldn't get out of my head, but now I'm finally posting it. It's gone through quite a few mutations and changes over the several months I've been working on it, but I think I like where I've got it headed now.


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